Hi Riley1, nothing wrong with digging up old posts, For me the solar project works 100% I have a 33 foot motor cruiser and I have installed 6 x 100 amp AGM batteries for the house bank, everything on my boat runs off 12 volts apart from the hot water system which is AC / engine heated , all lights, refrigeration, 2 x TV`s, stereo, fans, water pumps and a small AC inverter all run off my 12v house bank, I also have a Honda generator but rarely use it.
I decided on a single 300 watt solar panel, this was the biggest panel I fit on m boat, I could not fit 2 x 200watt panels, so I went with the biggest panel I could get, this into a 30 amp regulator returns to my battery bank between 80 - 120 amps per day depending on sunlight. I estimated I would use around 150 amps maximum per day which is quite a lot, but that's why I have a big battery bank.
My advise would be to install the biggest panel you can fit / afford, use quality cable and connectors an decent charge regulator, and a decent sized battery you could run a inverter off the battery and charge your laptop via the laptops own AC power supply
It is hard to comment on your requirements, do you only want to charge a laptop? nothing else? does your boat already have a battery bank? I am happy to offer you more advice but really need to know a bit more about your requirements
cheers Yobbo